Resilient wheel.



W. S. KENDALL. RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. I912.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W S. KENDALL.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLICATION men SEPT.- 30. 1912.

Patented N 0V. 2, 1915.

5 3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

coLumslA PMNOGRAPH CD..WASHINOTON. D. c.

W. S. KENDALL.

RESILIENT WHEEL. APPLICATION FILLED SEPT. 30. 1912 1,15,809. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

3 SHEET EET 3- T1 Ij? COLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH cm. WASHINGTON n c man. A

WILLIAM S. KENDALL, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-EIGHTH '10 FRED J.

GREEN, ONE-EIGHTH TO WARREN A, ALEXANDER, ONE-EIGHTH TO JOHN G. GORIES,

AND ONE-EIGHTH 'IO FLOYD A. ,JOHN STON, ALL OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

'RESILIENT WHEEL.

To. all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM S. KENDALL, a citizen of the United States, residingat Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient WVheels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to vehicle wheels and particularly to resilient wheels of the float.- ing or spring hub type.

The object of the invention is to simplify the structure as well as the means and mode of operation of such devices whereby they will not only be cheapened in construction but will be more efficient in use, responsive to the vibration of the vehicle while maintaining a positive driving connection between the hub and wheel, providing for wide distribution of the strain about the wheel and unlikely to get out of repair. With the'above primary and other incidental objects in View as will more fully appear in the specification, the invention consists of the features of construction, the parts and combinations thereof and the mode of operation or their equivalents as hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the vehicle embodying the resilient hub forming the subject matter hereof. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the assembled hub with one half the housing removed and a portion of the hub broken away. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the assembled hub. Fig. 4 is an interior view of thehousing showing the swinging clevises. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the hub member. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of a modification of the construction shown in the preceding figures. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail sectional views of a modification which is substantially the reverse of the construc" tion illustrated in the preceding figures. Fig. 9 is a similar view of a modification in which are combined the features shown in the primary construction and those of Fig.7.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the several views. v 4

i' In the drawings, 1 is the wheel body which may be equipped with a solid metal tire or as shown. in the drawings with a solid rubher or resilient. tire 2.

Oneof the'primary objects of the present Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed September 30, 1912. Seria1No. 723,216.

invention is to obviate the necessity of a tire of great resiliency and particularly to obriate the use of a pneumatic tire with its constant danger of punctures and blowouts. Centrally disposed in the wheel 1 is a hollow concentric housing or casing 3 with which the spokes 4L may be engaged in any suitable manner. For convenience of manufacture and assembling the housing 3 is preferably formed in two separable halves as shown in Fig. 3. The opposite halves of the housing 3 are provided with central openings 5 con centric with the axle 6 but of greater diameter than that of the axle whereby the wheel body. 1 will be permitted a limited free movement in any direction independent of the axle. Carried upon the axle 6 within the housing 3 is a shifting or floating hub member movable in various directions in unison with the axle 6 and independent of the wheel and housing. The hub member 7 is provided with a plurality of radially disposed bores forming spring chambers 8. In the drawings the hub member 7 has been shown as provided with eight of these spring chambers. It is obvious, however, that the particular number of such spring chambers is not essential but may be increased or diminished to meet various conditions of use. To provide an extended flat bearing between. the hub member 7 and the housing 3, the hub member is provided on opposite sides with continuous flat flanges or walls 9 which bear upon and slide on the inner walls of the housing 3. Each of the spring chambers 8-is provlded with slots 10 in its opposite walls which slots are arranged in radial relation to the axis of rotation. Extending through the slot 10 of the spring chamber 8 are U shaped clevises 11, one such clevis for each chamber. The clevises 11 are pivotally connected with the housing 3 at the points 12. The inner walls of the housing'3 are recessed as shown at 18 in Fig. 4: and within such recesses the parallel arms of the clevises are permitted a limited range of swinging or oscillatory movement as shown by dotted lines in said figure. The clevises 11 form a driving connection between the floating hub? and the wheel body causing the wheel to rotate in unison with the hub under torsional stress while permitting avibratory movement of the hub member? inrelation to the wheeh Each of .thereof and the transverse bar 15 of the clevis 11 is a helical compression spring 16.

The springs 16 being all of substantially equal tension the hub member 7 and the axle 6 are normally maintained in a balanced position concentric in relation to the wheel and housing. However, when the .vehicle is heavily laden or is subjected to sudden shock the hub member 7 and axle 6 are deflected from their normal concentric positions against the tension of the springs 16. The weight or load is suspended upon the clevises and springs in the upper part of the housing. The clevises and springs in the lower part of the housing are at all times free, the tension upon the springs being relaxed except as they serve to arrest the rebound or vibratory movement of the vehicle.

The thrust of the load or shock is not sustained by any particular spring or clevis but is distributed between several sets of such sustaining devices. This action will be more obvious by reference to Fig. 2 in which the hub member 7 is shown as pressed 7 downward to the limit of its stroke as would occur under influences of a heavy load upon the vehicle when at rest. In this figure the normal position of the hub member 7 is indicated by dotted lines. It will be seen that the springs 16 of the spring chamber a is compressed to approximately the limit of its stroke. The load is not sustained, however, wholly by the suspension members a but is distributed by the members b?) and 0-0. The suspension members Z)b maintain equal portions of the load somewhat less than the suspension members a but more than the members cc.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a modification of the construction heretofore described embodying an auxiliary spring 17 located within the spring 16 thereby increasing the resistance of the device. The head His provided with an annular flange 18 to form suitable seats for the springs 16 and 17. There is also shown in Fig. 6 a follower head 19 having a bearing 20 for the engagement of the transverse bar of the clevis 11. The springs 16 and 17 rest upon the follower head. The construction herein described not only compensate for any vibration'in a vertical direction but also respondsto any shock in the line of travel thereby minimizing the jar or jolt at the starting or stopping of the vehicle.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modification in which the supporting parts are arranged in reverse position as compared with the primary construction heretofore described. In

this construction the housing 3 and hubmember 7 are substantially the same as before described except that the heads 14 are omitted from the'spring chambers S of the hub member and each of the spring chambers is provided with a longlt'udinal slot 21 extending inward from the outer extremity of the chamber. Springs 22 are located within the spring chambers and seated at their inner extremities upon a central body 23. Clevises 2 which are exactly the same in construction as the clevises 11 previously described, but'reversely arranged, are pivotally engaged in the opposite sides of the housing 3 adjacent to its central annular opening 5. The transverse portions of the clevises 2i engage in the slots 21 and rest upon the outer extremities of the spring 22. This construction is substantially the reverse of that previously described and the weight of the vehicle or load ,will be sustained by the springs in the lower portion of the housing whereas in the previously described conf struction the load was sustained by the springs in the upper portion of the housin 7 the spring chambers 8 between the clevises 11 and the central-body 23 In this construction the springs 16 in the upper portion of the housing and the springs 25 in the lower portion of the housing act simultaneously in compensating for jolt or jar. As the axle is forced downward in relation to the wheel body the springs 16 in the uppermost spring chambers are compressed by the suspension of the load thereon while at the same time the springs 25 in the lower portion of the housing are compressed through the cushioning of the hub body on said springs. Under normal conditions'the several springs exert equal pressure-in various directions whereby the axle and hub bodies are maintainedin a balanced central or concentric position.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus produced a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportion, detail construction and arrangements of parts Without departing from the but one mode of putting the invention into effect and the invention is therefor claimed broadly in any of its possible forms or modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim;

1. A resilient wheel comprising a felly, radial spokes and a chambered hub all rigidly connected one to the other to form a rigid wheel body, a spindle engaging member located within the chambered hub, springs yieldingly resisting the independent movement of the spindle engagingmember,swinging clevises located intermediate the side w alls of the chambered hub and the spindle engaging member limiting the relative movement of the chambered hub and the spindle engaging member, and bearing faces carried by one of said parts projecting intermediate the swinging clevises into engagement with the other of the parts for confining the gyrations of the spindle engaging member to a plane common with the main wheel body.

2. A resilient wheel comprising a felly, radial spokes and a chambered hub all rigidly connected one to the other to form a rigid wheel body, a spindle engaging member gyrating within the chambered hub, a plurality of radially disposed springs against the tension of which the spindle engaging member moves, swinging links lim iting the movement ofthe spindle engaging member, vertically disposed parallel hearing faces upon the spindle engaging member, and vertically disposed parallel bearing faces on the walls of the hub engaged by the corresponding bearing faces of the spindle engaging member to confine the gyrations of the latter to the plane of the wheel.

3. A resilient wheel comprising a. main wheel body, a. gyrating hub section, swinging links pivoted to the main wheel body adjacent to the axis thereof and normally extending outward in radial directions therefrom, and resilient members interposed between the outer ends of the swinging links and the gyrating hub against the tension of which the hub moves within the limit determined by the swinging links.

4. A resilient wheel comprising a main wheel body, a spindle engaging member independent of the wheel body, radially disposed spring chambers carried by the spindle engaging member, helical springs within said spring chambers, a. plurality of nor mally radially disposed swinging links pivotally connected to the main wheel body at their inner or adjacent ends and engaging the outer ends of the radially disposed springs to limit the independent movement of the spindle engaging member against the tension of the springs.

In a resilient wheel, a felly, radially disposed spokes and a chambered hub all rigidly connected one to the other to form a main wheel body, a gyrating hub capable of movement independent of the main wheel body located within the chambered hub, oppositely disposed parallel bearing faces on said gyrating hub, swinging suspension links pivoted to the main wheel body interposed between the bearing faces of the gyrating hub and the side walls of the chambered hub, resilient members interposed between the ends of the links and the gyrating hub, and bearing faces projecting from the inner walls of the chambered hub between the swinging links into engagement with the bearing faces of the gyrating hub to confine the gyrations thereof to the plane of the main wheel member.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of September 1912.

WVILLIAM S. KENDALL.

Vitnesses MARGARET TWOMEY, HELEN M. LACEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. 

